Someone Broke Into Our House

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=78118

TravMan162

29-12-2008 21:21:27

Okay, so I wake up this morning to go to work and my roommate Keith texts me and tells me that someone stole a GPS and a cell phone out of his car and to let him know if my car got broken into.

So I go into my car, and everything is cool, so I just think it's a random act of thievery and I go to work. However, I thought something was fishy because I don't lock my truck and I have a GPS on the windshield, whereas Keiths was buried under a bunch of shit in his center console, yet his was stolen and mine untouched.

I come home and my roommate Chal says that his $1000 laptop was missing. Now, his laptop was sitting on a chair in the middle of the living room and this room is filled -- literally filled -- with PS3's, XBox 360's, mass quantities of DVD's, blurays, PS3 games, a nice ass surround system, a kegerator, all sorts of nice shit, but the only thing they took from the house was a laptop.

Upon further investigation, my other roommate Kevin found that his wallet was missing. It didn't have much in it, $70 cash, a credit card and all the shit that sucks to replace like your license and whatnot. I also had a lucky rock --a small polished pocket stone with a cross on it-- that is now missing.

So basically, what I ask of you guys and your infinite wisdom is, how do I find who did this. I think it's someone we know. I mean, we live in the middle of fucking no where on a dead end street that gets zero traffic in a decent neighborhood with nothing around us and whoever broke in just so happened to know that our house is unlocked and where our shit is. We have a strategically placed machete in case they come back and I'm not kidding when I say that if we catch them in our house again it's going to be a shit show and we're all going to jail for a long long time.

I'm hoping they try to use Kevin's credit card and we can figure it out from there, but does anyone else have any other ideas on how to figure this out? Literally, we live in the middle of nowhere and leaving the door unlocked shouldn't be a problem. There's no crime around here, there's not even people around here. Anyone got any ideas?

theysayjump

29-12-2008 21:46:51

Call the po-po?

TravMan162

29-12-2008 21:49:37

We did that. They won't do anything. They just said, "do you have insurance or are you S.O.L." and that's it.

I just thought of something though, hopefully these mental giants use the cell phone they stole. God I hope they do because we can obviously look at the call log and then it's going to be fun times for that guy D

akalic

30-12-2008 05:27:05

Is it really that hard to lock the door?

TravMan162

30-12-2008 05:31:50

We don't ever do that because there's five of us constantly in and out at all hours of the day and night, and like I said, we live so far away from anything that if someone were to come in it would have to be someone we know. Maybe we thought our friends were alright haha.

Powerbook

30-12-2008 05:41:49

[quotebbc04503a1="TravMan162"]We don't ever do that because there's five of us constantly in and out at all hours of the day and night, and like I said, we live so far away from anything that if someone were to come in it would have to be someone we know. Maybe we thought our friends were alright haha.[/quotebbc04503a1]

You need to lock your door bro..... This ain't the 1950s anymore. Sorry to hear about what happened. Get one of those cheap video monitoring systems. I've seen them for $100. Set up a trap and leave your door open wink . Na, don't do that. Try asking your neighbors if they have seen anything. Back in the day, my dad found out it was neighbor that broke into his house.

TFOAF

30-12-2008 06:13:13

It ain't those sitcoms on TV man. You can't just let people walk in and out.

bballp6699

30-12-2008 06:29:39

What grown man has a lucky rock?

theysayjump

30-12-2008 09:22:27

I think it proves how effective they are.

dmorris68

30-12-2008 10:17:09

Yeah, I don't care if I live 50 miles from the nearest neighbor and my house is accessible only by snowmobile, I'm locking my doors. Chalk it up to a lesson learned, and lock the friggin' doors!

I'm surprised the police are so nonchalant about it. I realize that the odds of finding the person or stuff or slim, but you'd think they would still investigate. Especially if it's a decent neighborhood like you say.

JennyWren

30-12-2008 11:06:28

Sounds like maybe someone was coming home when the thieves were there, so they left in a rush without taking more stuff.

ButtrflyFluttrs

30-12-2008 13:05:52

Did you try calling the cell phone that was stolen?

Also, the video cam idea isnt bad if you have the resources. Put it up without anyone else knowing and maybe you could catch them in their next act.

KeithA

30-12-2008 15:13:05

Ask all of your friends to be observant. Is anyone they know freshly flush with cash or electronics? Do they know anyone who's been having problems?

Do you happen to have a serial # for the GPS unit? It's a long shot, but if you registered it, you might. I don't know how the manufacturer would handle it, but it would be badass if they helped you track it down.

All of the surveillance stuff is well and good, but I doubt the person that did it will try it again. I think you'd have better luck asking everyone again and again to think of who it could have been, evaluate them each as suspects, and then pay very close attention to their behavior.

Also, check Craigslist & eBay for postings that match the laptop and GPS units. You could also call a few local pawn shops just to see if they have any fresh stock that matches what's missing.

When I was fresh out of school I lived in a house with between 3 and 5 roommates at any given moment (although this was in a much more densely populated area). 1 or 2 of us did things like finish college and earn an income, but the rest were trust fund drug addicts/dealers. I had a nice laptop stolen and a few other things; nothing else was touched. And we did lock our doors.

mnx12

30-12-2008 17:03:36

Maybe it's an inside job. You need to do some interrogating.

Powerbook

30-12-2008 17:26:36

This is what I was getting at. If it wasn't a roommate it could have easily been a neighbor. I hope you will lock your doors no matter what. I know you said you live in a decent area, but a city is a city. Lock your doors from now on. I hope you can somehow found the asshat or asshats. )

TravMan162

30-12-2008 20:46:36

[quoteea9e107ba5="KeithA"]Ask all of your friends to be observant. Is anyone they know freshly flush with cash or electronics? Do they know anyone who's been having problems?

All of the surveillance stuff is well and good, but I doubt the person that did it will try it again. I think you'd have better luck asking everyone again and again to think of who it could have been, evaluate them each as suspects, and then pay very close attention to their behavior.

Also, check Craigslist & eBay for postings that match the laptop and GPS units. You could also call a few local pawn shops just to see if they have any fresh stock that matches what's missing.
.[/quoteea9e107ba5]


Well after a day of piecing things together a bit, we think we have it figured out. We determined right after it happened that it HAD to be someone we knew. It didn't make any sense otherwise. I mean, the guy was polite enough to shut the door on the way out, not make a mess and not destroy anything.

There's this kid that has come over a few times who is loosely friends with a girl that one roommate dates. He's a scumbag. He has a curious history of stealing from everyone, and despite coming off as a nice guy to everyone he meets, he's a real piece of work. Stealing 5k from his grandfather's house and whatnot.

So it just so happened that, out of nowhere last week, the girl my roommate dates just came out and told him "watch out for Tyson, he's trouble." We have a few other indications that it's him and we're going to invite to the New Years Eve party tomorrow night to see how he acts.

If we can know 100% it was him it's going to be a bad bad night for him. I mean, I'm not a violent person, but coming into my house in the middle of the night and taking things is not going to fly with me. Not even a little bit.

slambam

30-12-2008 20:54:56

Police are a bunch of retards in my city too. Jackasses can at least do something to earn there pay.

TryinToGetPaid

30-12-2008 20:59:34

Well Travman, have fun in prison on New Years! We will all send you hand written letters, all of them being the newest posts on the forum.

TravMan162

30-12-2008 21:09:01

God if i go to prison, who's going to blog on here?

orangejuice

30-12-2008 23:08:55

You won't go to prison if you have a good lawyer. If you know for sure its him, beat the pulp out of him, just dont break too much stuff. I beat the shit out of a kid in high school for stealing my MiniDisc player and throwing it in the toilet. Pussy turned around and had his parents sue me. Ended up costing them a couple grand when I won the case and they paid my lawyer fees too. lol.

x323smostwantedx

31-12-2008 01:17:09

what company is the cell from? I might be able to track imeis ;)

KeithA

31-12-2008 06:52:14

If you can prove with certainty that it's him, I'd go back to the police before kicking his ass. Kid needs to be taught the kind of lesson that stays on your record.

theysayjump

31-12-2008 09:31:43

Kicking his ass won't stop him from doing it to someone else and his bones and cuts will heal, you'll only be making yourself feel better.

Do as Keith said and call police if you're sure it's him. I think that if he doesn't show up to the party then it's a good indication that it was him, especially if he's been around before and would go to the party any other time. His lack of presence would imply guilt. ;)

J4320

31-12-2008 11:46:56

lol @ orangjuice telling trav to beat the pulp out of him.

theysayjump

31-12-2008 13:01:28

http//www.instantrimshot.com/

KeithA

31-12-2008 14:02:09

[quotea1a0b66d6f="theysayjump"]http//www.instantrimshot.com/[/quotea1a0b66d6f]

Slam dunk

mistertomlinson

31-12-2008 21:53:58

I know it's too late now, but I own a lot of nice shit (thanks to freebie sites) and have installed "Undercover" on both my Macs (LoJack for PC) and if anyone steals my shit, assuming they take a computer, I'll be tracking them down using the software. Undercover will even take pictures of the thief as he uses my computer. Anyway, I would advise installing some sort of recovery software on all your computers and his if he has it replaced. I think I paid $30 per license but I think it's $50 now, but well worth it considering you may have found the thief by now.

Investopedia

31-12-2008 22:30:18

[quotedf102d85b3="KeithA"]Ask all of your friends to be observant. Is anyone they know freshly flush with cash or electronics? Do they know anyone who's been having problems?

Do you happen to have a serial # for the GPS unit? It's a long shot, but if you registered it, you might. I don't know how the manufacturer would handle it, but it would be badass if they helped you track it down.

All of the surveillance stuff is well and good, but I doubt the person that did it will try it again. I think you'd have better luck asking everyone again and again to think of who it could have been, evaluate them each as suspects, and then pay very close attention to their behavior.

Also, check Craigslist & eBay for postings that match the laptop and GPS units. You could also call a few local pawn shops just to see if they have any fresh stock that matches what's missing.

When I was fresh out of school I lived in a house with between 3 and 5 roommates at any given moment (although this was in a much more densely populated area). 1 or 2 of us did things like finish college and earn an income, but the rest were trust fund drug addicts/dealers. I had a nice laptop stolen and a few other things; nothing else was touched. And we did lock our doors[/sizedf102d85b3].[/quotedf102d85b3]

is it just me or did you use the term "fresh" a few more times then necessary in this post?

anyway, i'm on the fence. if you find out it's this bag of douche you think it is, nothing would feel better then clocking him a nice firm first to the center of his face.... however, calling the cops would also make you feel good especially if you get to see him arrested and hear about him getting... well you know... in the holding cell

so the only solution i see happening is getting a confession on tape, beating the shit out of him, then calling the cops....

best of both worlds )

TravMan162

31-12-2008 23:34:36

Wow, thanks for all the ideas guys, that's exactly what I needed. See, everyone shits on me for "blogging" here, but I've gotten better advice here than I have from anyone I know, so I appreciate the efforts.

Ironic update.

As indicated before, a cell phone was stolen out of Keith's car.

Sooo, Keith and I were hungry tonight and went to D'angelo's. We pull up next to a car and get out, when we look into the car next to us and guess who it is!!!! It's Tyson -- that motherfucker! So, not knowing we suspect him, he starts talking to us like everything's cool and we play it cool to see if we can get some proof out of him.

Well during the conversation, Keith got a text and pulled his phone out to text back when Tyson says, "oh yeah, [bdc8aa0dd82]I just a got a new phone too[/bdc8aa0dd82]!" Yeah.

So Keith and I look at each other, look back at him and Keith says, "oh yeah? What kind of phone?" To which Tyson responds, "heh, you don't even want to know."

So that was proof enough for me. I'm not going to hurt him per you guys' advice, but shit's going to roll downhill for him.

orangejuice

01-01-2009 00:12:30

Well there you have it. i just cant believe people would steal 100 dollar items. what the hell is the point. If i am going to steal something, its going to be worth 40, 50, 60,000 bucks not a measly 100.

mistertomlinson

01-01-2009 00:56:45

Fuck... you shoulda called the cell number. Maybe he hadn't swapped SIMs. It would have been great if he had answered right in front of you.

akalic

01-01-2009 02:26:47

why would he make it so obvious that he stole your phone, i'm sure he would know you guys would suspect...shouldn't he?

TravMan162

01-01-2009 21:39:00

Wow. This guy is a stupid motherfucker. Okay, we are 100% positive it was him now. The only reason we thought it might not be him is b/c he doesn't have a car and we live in the middle of nowhere so he would have trouble getting to our house just to steal shit.

Turns out, we just discovered that he so happened to be staying at the seedy motel that is less than 100 yards from our house on the night of the incident. Weird.

Also, check this out, Kevin's wallet had a $25 gift card to best buy in it from Christmas and yesterday, Tyson randomly offered his friend (who is also best friends with our roommate) a $25 gift card to best buy that "he didn't need for anything" for free.

And now for the clincher. Kevin had a $250 check in his wallet from Christmas as well and Tyson was at the bank with a girl he was dating (who is also good friends with our roommate) and he tried to cash a (surprise surprise) $250 check that had a stop put on it.

So my crazy roommate just found this out. This kid is insane. He has no job, he sits in his pitch black room all day and night playing final fantasy XI, sleeps 3 hours a day, hasn't had sex in five years and has already almost stabbed one of our roommates out of rage. And he is pissed. We don't know where he is right now, but he just sent Kevin a text that said "it's starting right now."

We didn't text him back to see what that means, because we don't want to be accomplices to anything he's going to do. But I'm actually kind of scared that he is going to maim, torture or possibly kill this kid, but as long as I don't know what's exactly going on, I'm just going to play dumb.

TravMan162

01-01-2009 21:41:10

P.S.

We should work for the F.B.I. or something. We found out who broke into our house in the middle of the night and it only took us two days to do it. That's called being resourceful.

theysayjump

01-01-2009 23:33:46

[quote42c633569b="TravMan162"]We didn't text him back to see what that means, because we don't want to be accomplices to anything he's going to do. But I'm actually kind of scared that he is going to maim, torture or possibly kill this kid, but as long as I don't know what's exactly going on, I'm just going to play dumb.[/quote42c633569b]

But if the kid does do something extreme, you just posted about knowing about it in a public forum for all to see, and I just quoted it. shrug

tylerc

01-01-2009 23:38:05

[quoteb0007bf15f="theysayjump"][quoteb0007bf15f="TravMan162"]We didn't text him back to see what that means, because we don't want to be accomplices to anything he's going to do. But I'm actually kind of scared that he is going to maim, torture or possibly kill this kid, but as long as I don't know what's exactly going on, I'm just going to play dumb.[/quoteb0007bf15f]

But if the kid does do something extreme, you just posted about knowing about it in a public forum for all to see, and I just quoted it. shrug[/quoteb0007bf15f]

Thanks for ruining the plan.

bballp6699

02-01-2009 06:58:53

Secret Agent Jump strikes again.

theysayjump

02-01-2009 08:32:32

It's almost time for DLF to get out of prison, I gotta get my justice from somewhere.

dmorris68

02-01-2009 09:31:38

Okay, you're 100 yards from a "seedy motel" and you don't lock your doors? You do know the type of clientele that frequent seedy motels, right?

You've got more than enough evidence to convince the police, if I were you I'd be getting them involved. You're all going to feel pretty foolish when one or several of you wind up in jail over doing something stupid.

TryinToGetPaid

02-01-2009 09:44:37

[quote90cab2e567="TravMan162"]I mean, we live in the middle of fucking no where on a dead end street that gets zero traffic in a decent neighborhood with nothing around us and whoever broke in just so happened to know that our house is unlocked and where our shit is. [/quote90cab2e567]

So you live in the middle of nowhere, on a dead end street, in a decent neighborhood with a seedy motel next to your house...sounds like someone is in denial on where they live.

Had you originally stated you lived less than 100 yards from a seedy motel, and leave your door unlocked at night -- all the posts would be everyone telling you what a big dumb ass you are.

Investopedia

02-01-2009 10:44:12

[quotef054beb3d7="theysayjump"][quotef054beb3d7="TravMan162"]We didn't text him back to see what that means, because we don't want to be accomplices to anything he's going to do. But I'm actually kind of scared that he is going to maim, torture or possibly kill this kid, but as long as I don't know what's exactly going on, I'm just going to play dumb.[/quotef054beb3d7]

But if the kid does do something extreme, you just posted about knowing about it in a public forum for all to see, and I just quoted it. shrug[/quotef054beb3d7]

rofl ahh what a dooosh

I'm with everyone else travman, at this point you can pretty much be 95% positive that it's him, and i'm sure cameras at the bank can prove that he was there trying to cash your check, and if he has an account at said bank that'd be even more key. Go to the police and if you want to be a huge dick head text your crazy roomate back and ask what he's going to do, wait for a response and then show the police that and get him arrested...... it's a win/win

Powerbook

02-01-2009 11:01:06

The Springfield area has a lot of robberies and crimes of this nature. Trav, you need to lock your doors. I can't believe you are so trusting to leave your doors open when you are so close to a motel. It doesn't even matter if you were on a street with super expensive homes, people there would still lock their doors. Please do not try to kick the kid's ass or have someone do it. Have the police handle it. Why would you guys want to get in trouble yourselves? I knew it was most likely someone you know.

mnx12

03-01-2009 02:52:45

Yeah and if you beat him up, you probably will never see your stuff again. If the police get involved, you at least have a somewhat chance...

J4320

03-01-2009 19:25:03

http//i44.tinypic.com/35mjqc6.jpg[" alt=""/img8757c5135e]

ilanbg

03-01-2009 23:59:54

It's obvious the police can do nothing for you. You must turn to more insidious forms of justice.

http//basetta.pupazzo.org/site_media/postings/godfather.jpg[" alt=""/img5736c6e6fe]



Or maybe you are looking for [url==http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmx9VMmjWXE&feature=related]vengence[=http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmx9VMmjWXE&feature=related]vengence[/url] rather than justice.


I've had success with both approaches, so you should be able to get your shit back either way. shrug

tjwor

12-01-2009 15:22:10

any update? police do anything?

Armstrong

13-01-2009 07:34:37

Sorry to hear that bud. My Jeep has been broken into twice this month. Damn zipper windows. But I learned the first time, and the second time they got nothing! Assholes are thief's, and if I ever catch one there's going to be some unleashed anger!

TravMan162

13-01-2009 22:20:43

[quote4e12ab6efa="tjwor"]any update? police do anything?[/quote4e12ab6efa]

Sorry, I forgot to "blog" the best development yet.

The stupid asshole tried to cash the personal check that was in the wallet he stole. Kevin's mom had already canceled the check, so now all we need to do is have Kevin go to the bank with his mom and a cop and look at the tape to see who it was that tried cashing that check.

He's an idiot. It's all over now haha. I mean, we're already 99% sure we know who it was, but this will obviously cement it. I'm so excited!

Zags1199

14-01-2009 00:24:06

Dude, nice. Keep us updated.

KeithA

14-01-2009 08:30:40

[quote34cd99b68b="TravMan162"]
The stupid asshole tried to cash the personal check that was in the wallet he stole. Kevin's mom had already canceled the check, so now all we need to do is have Kevin go to the bank with his mom and a cop and look at the tape to see who it was that tried cashing that check.[/quote34cd99b68b]

He likely had an account at the bank where he tried to cash the check, or, at a minimum, had to provide a valid ID.

Has anyone actually contacted the police yet? Things may still work out, but you really should have reported the losses immediately.

It's much harder building your case in reverse chronological order--using his attempt to cash the check as your starting point and working backwards to establish that it's a stolen check--than it would have been if you had reported the check and all of the other items stolen to the police weeks ago.

TravMan162

14-01-2009 18:29:45

[quoteb9c8a30db3="KeithA"]He likely had an account at the bank where he tried to cash the check, or, at a minimum, had to provide a valid ID.

Has anyone actually contacted the police yet? Things may still work out, but you really should have reported the losses immediately.

It's much harder building your case in reverse chronological order--using his attempt to cash the check as your starting point and working backwards to establish that it's a stolen check--than it would have been if you had reported the check and all of the other items stolen to the police weeks ago.[/quoteb9c8a30db3]

I guess I failed to mention that we did file a police report the day it happened, we gave them a list of everything stolen, including checks and who we thought it could be.

Turns out, it was him. Surprise surprise. My roommate Kevin saw the tape with Tyson on it, so I don't know what he did about it..... Knowing him, I bet he said he didn't know who that was just so he could go and try to get his stuff back martial law style, but who knows................

I hope he just told the cops haha.

junkie06

14-01-2009 22:08:23

you still should have beaten his ass... im not a violent person but I dont like my things or place violated

KeithA

15-01-2009 11:13:22

Nice...glad it was reported and that everything seems to be coming together.